Deprivation
by NothingToulouse
Summary: “You lied to me.” He hadn’t planned on saying it and his lips burned. For the first time, Rusty looked away. “You lied to me and let me wait and you didn’t call and you didn’t explain.” set way before O11. About 30 years.


**I really should be sleeping right now, it's 1am and you don't want to know when I got up. That said... I might want to check the spelling and grammar again tomorrow. Oh, and I suppose I really don't own them. Ah well, a girl can dream.**

Inspiration credits go tooooo Otherhawk and InSilva, as usual. ah, and of course to the movies. Yeah, there were movies beforehand I think...

* * *

It hadn't rained in weeks and the grainy earth of the amusement park had made his new, black shoes dusty enough to make his mother faint. Or, at least, scream bloody murder at him.

And then he saw him, right next to Freddie's Colossal Funnel Cakes, where he was somehow ripping a one-armed bandit off while holding three cakes with strawberries and whipped cream. He watched for a while, then Rusty turned around, and he didn't know what to say, so he waited.

"Wanna try?"

And suddenly he decided that all his relief was nothing compared to the disappointment.

"We should talk."

He didn't seem surprised at all - which confirmed his anger, he decided, and damn, he couldn't think straight - and silently followed Danny behind the House of Horrors.

"You're not grounded."

Nothing. Well, it hadn't been a question, but still. Rusty leaned against the plywood board and _didn't touch his cakes._

"You said you were. Twelve days ago."

And Rusty waited, food resting in his hand.

"You said I wasn't allowed to drop by."

Their eyes met and Danny felt a stab of anger, anger that Rusty didn't respond, didn't communicate, hell, he didn't even eat the bloody funnel cakes, he just looked at him and didn't seem to see his point and didn't let Danny read him. It wasn't like Rusty and it was worse than he'd thought.

"You lied to me." He hadn't planned on saying it and his lips burned.

For the first time, Rusty looked away.

"You lied to me and let me wait and you didn't call and you didn't explain."

He nodded and let his eyes wander over the dusty cans and the torn tire.

"I don't understand." I hurt to admit it, but he didn't.

He had always understood, he had seen why they hadn't exactly been on speaking terms after the thing with the man in the garbage can and he had perfectly understood why Rusty hadn't said anything on the graveyard, but this was different because he couldn't remember doing anything wrong and there was absolutely no way they had agreed on silence.

And then Rusty turned and nodded towards the dirty river and all he could do was to follow, to walk behind the boy who still didn't let him read his face, and it _hurt_.

"Your mother said anything about a private school in West Virginia?"

Danny frowned and mumbled a few "Yeahs" and some "Idle threats".

"Well, um, she mentioned it to me when you went inside to talk to your father in the, um, White Saloon."

Danny screamed _Idle Threat_ in his mind and then Rusty stopped and with one quick movement threw the goddamn cakes he hadn't even touched away. He turned around and Danny could see Rusty in his torn jeans and washed-out T-shirt and finally he was making sense and all of a sudden he didn't want him to, because now he began to understand and it was definitely worse than he'd thought, if only in another way. He could see the tired smile Rusty was giving him and the days of solitude and the pain of it all and _God it hurt_.

"She told you to stay away from me?"

"Yeah, well, she said I'm ruining your reputation and all and there would have to be consequences sooner or later… " Rusty raised his eyebrows.

First he said, "What reputation?" and then, "Oh, God."

And it all became clear and he couldn't believe that he had been so blind, that Rusty had wanted him to be blind, and he opened his mouth to say something, to take back the anger and the harshness,_ anything_. His heart ached and he felt like someone had hit his solar plexus a lot harder than necessary.

"It's alright. Cold turkey wasn't my cup of tea either. I was just about to relapse."

He nodded, slowly, and settled for silence, watched the ten-year old, watched his shoes and decided he was going to ruin them today.

"They got excellent Corn Dogs round the corner," Rusty observed ingenuously and a smile spread on his face. "And they got Elephant Ears, too."

Danny shook his head and let the thought of Dallison Academy West Virginia slip away. "Elephant Ears it is."


End file.
